Thousands of Summerfest attendees added to the overcrowding conditions during the Imagine Dragons performance at the Miller stage.
By H. Nelson Goodson
June 30, 2013
Milwaukee, WI - On Saturday, the Summerfest grounds reached overcapacity with overwhelming crowds during the Imagine Dragons gig that drew over 10,000 fans to the stage area. Officials had to stop selling tickets at the gates, then the crowds outside made their way inside Summerfest for free without getting checked, according Facebook users.
Festivalgoers reported the largest drunk crowds in Summerfest history. People had to wait between 1 1/2 to over two hours to buy an admittance ticket into Summerfest.
Others posted in Facebook, their first hand accounts of having difficulty moving from stage to stage, which some wrote they were stepped on, pushed, elbowed disrespectful drunks. While others pished their way to the front of the stages in order to move from the overcrowed areas.
After closing, the crowd movement was even more chaotic then expected, which people had to push their way out of Summerfest. Most festivalgoers who took a shuttle or bus to Summerfest had to wait between 30-45 minutes for them.
Summerfest 2013 will go down in history for the largest capacity crowds in one day. Officials at Summerfest haven't relased the attendance totals for Saturday yet.
Some festivalgoers also posted their accounts of what happened at Summerfest on the Today's TMJ 4 Facebook page. Sarah Olsen posted, "No one was carding for alcohol. Went at 6 and the miller oasis was already packed. Had to leave. Tons of drunk kids underage, no parental supervision. Kids under 18 shouldn't be let in without an adult. Left around 10pm, crowds outside gates were large and unruly, practically no security checks. I love summerfest but this was insane."
Kat Bubash posted, "Miller was horrific..some punk tried getting in a fight with me because I was "touching" him..ridiculous...ive never seen it that bad."
Lisa Girmschid posted, "Update: my teen is safe at home. Said she didn't have to pay to get in, because while she was standing in line they announced they weren't selling any more tickets. So the crowd just stormed the gates and everyone was allowed in for free. I asked my teen if she would have changed her mind about going if she knew it would be that bad. There was a very long pause before she responded....lol."
